Welcome to my the third chapter as I look back at my favourite photoshoots and images over the last 10 years. In 2012 I ended up shooting lifestyle on a beach in Kent to Damsel in Distress images on a working Railway line in Essex, read on to find out how.
In 2012 I was contacted by model Kelly who was interested in updating her portfolio and shooting lifestyle and commercial images, what we didn’t know then was how well we would get on and how many shoots we would have together. It’s only right that I dedicate the 2012 blog to Kelly and showcase just some of our photoshoots from that year.
As I mentioned from the previous blog, this was around the time when I was extremely keen to test, not only to better my understanding of photography and learn what all the camera menu settings did but experiment with lighting, both natural and photographic and develop my own style and look. Looking through my Adobe Lightroom catalogue at the images I shot from this year, I was surprised by how many images I shared which came straight off the camera with absolutely no Photoshop or Lightroom editing.
Our first shoot was in March 2012 on a beautiful sunny day, we created Boho Fashion styled images at a local country park. My camera was the original Canon 5D mk1 or classic as it’s now known, I also had just purchased a cheap Canon 50mm F1.8 lens which I bought for under £100. Having a good rapport with your subject has always been really important to me, even if you don’t get on like a house on fire it doesn’t hurt to be polite and friendly for a few hours. Fortunately, Kelly and I did get on well and were already planning the next shoot and chatting about other images we would both like to create, and because we live close to each other, we would often get together for just a couple of hours. What really helped me when shooting with Kelly was working in the diverse locations and surroundings, we also created images from every season, although unfortunately, I don’t think we didn’t manage any shoots in the snow, I guess we can blame global warming for that!
Above: My first Shoot with model Kelly.
Below: Lifestyle photography. Images available from Shutterstock for commercial use.
Below: A couple of years after shooting the above image, I commissioned professional retouched Princess Arina to work her magic and Arina really did an amazing job. As a commercial photographer, I always give my clients the option to have their images retouched but more often than not they run with the image pretty much as it comes off the camera, sometimes with just a subtle skin retouch and maybe colour adjustment. I'd be interested to know what you think, should images be retouched or left alone?
Above: Kelly has always been extremely keen on her fitness which plays a big part in her life. Of course, she was really keen to work with to create royalty-free images available from Shutterstock.
Above: Another day testing in the studio and on location.
July 2012, we decided to have a day out at the beach armed with my Canon 5D, reflectors and a converted Bowens transmitter to fire my Canon Speedlight as an Off-Camera Flash. That was the first time I realised what appetite Kelly had after watching her demolish a burger and chips as a lunchtime treat! To be honest, she probably burned off the calories in a matter of minutes!
One of my all-time favourite set of images which I’ve taken is the classic railway line damsel-in-distress where the heroine is tied to the railway track by a dastardly villain. The idea of shooting this was suggested by Kelly after seeing my Dark Fairy Tale images. Throughout the year we would chat about ideas and possible locations. In September 2012, I was given permission by a local railway museum for us to shoot there. Kelly arranged for her friend and Makeup artist Maridelle-Tan to help on the day with Hair and Makeup and a friend of mine Kenton Church kindly agreed to be our villain. I never have written shared a blog about this shoot, let me know if you’re interested and perhaps it’s something I can do soon!
Below: Early November 2012 we had amazing weather and one Sunday afternoon decided to shoot at a local park to create a few autumnal shots.
The idea was not only to create commercial lifestyle images for the portfolio but to experiment with shooting into the sun.
Above left: Straight off the camera with no editing.
Above: We also took the time to create some test images for Rotary watches which they shared on social media.
It goes without saying that I went on to have many more great shoots with Kelly, some of which you’ll see in the next blog, and although we haven’t managed to get together for a while we still stay in contact, will we ever get to shoot together again, watch this space to find out!
I’d like to say a massive thank you to Kelly for all her help and encouragement over the years. Looking through the images brought back many happy memories of fun days out, good times and the valuable experience to better me as a photographer.
Shutterstock Royalty-Free Images www.shutterstock.com/g/Phil+Jones
I don't want you to miss out on the full blog:
Part One 2010 Click Here
Part Two: 2011 Click Here
Click HERE to continue reading.